Help.

Your brother should return to the technician and actually pay attention (and even take notes if necessary) to what he is being told.

If he only formatted the laptop there are high chances that your nowadays(?) problem is related to that problem as BIOS is not affected by format.

Therefore, as said, either provide more info on the problem if you want to receive backup by HLTV.org users or directly ask the technician for a budget in order to fix the problem professionally.

http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Input/Output_Sy..

If you are right and the BIOS was/is damaged you might have to flash the laptop in order to install a fully working one again.
If you do not know or understand what I have just said, go to the technician and ask for the budget as the BIOS is nothing to be played with. A wrongly executed flash process can permanently damage the laptop.

First of all, the BIOS doesn't fry itself, something must have happened. There must have been some kind of tampering or something like that. (Or some severe falling damage)
Second, if your BIOS is really 'screwed', the best thing you can do is reflash the BIOS and hope for good luck.
Third, flashing the BIOS isn't that hard. Go to the laptop's manufacturer's website, I'm sure there are several guides that'll show you how to do so. (THERE SHOULD BE.)
Fourth, look if your laptop still has warranty, you might just be in luck, you know.
Fifth, are you sure this 'technician' is trustworthy? Why don't you ask the laptop's manufacturer for help first. I wouldn't bet my money on some random and probably unqualified technician.
Sixth, it's very easy to back up your old HDD's files. Put the HDD in any other laptop (It's basically just a click mechanism for HDDs) and use an external harddrive to back up your stuff. If your pc has 2.5" brackets, you might aswell use that.

Hope this helps a bit. Sorry for the wall of text.